Component suppliers have faced unprecedented delivery challenges in the past months. The market for raw materials, specifically semiconductors and connectors, has been squeezed, and now even some passive suppliers are being affected.

Contact us for more information about estimated lead times for semiconductors and other components.

Fortunately, OSDA’s expertise in scheduling, working with brokers, ability to recommend viable substitutions and take on excess inventory is softening this problem for our customers. We have also identified some solutions and specific steps you can take to further reduce the problem:

1. Review your orders and, if possible, try to place longer requirements. Some ICs and connectors are out to 30 weeks.

2. Schedule deliveries sooner than you normally would.

3. Take advantage of OSDA’s expertise in materials; and be open to recommended available alternates that can serve as viable substitutions.

4. Understand that we may need to bring brokers into the procurement process.

5. Review if you have any excess inventory from your initial consignment orders.

OSDA is working extremely hard with all our suppliers to get timely information on delinquent deliveries.  Some scheduled deliveries are being pushed out at the last moment, which gives us very little time to react.

These problems seem to originate from three fundamental issues.

1. Increased demand.

2. Insufficient capacity. In 2008 and 2009 many component manufacturers had poor financial results, which led to a postponement of adding capacity. This slowed their ability to increase production when demand escalated.  What may follow is a period of price increases, since demand outweighs supply, until manufacturers are able to ramp-up their capacity and eliminate the shortage situation.  Eventually something will break and someone will see this as an opportunity to increase market share.

3. Hoarding. End users are buying excess inventory to protect their customers and the large distributors are avoiding inventories by making customers take all product at once.  This is most likely the reason the situation has deteriorated so quickly.  OSDA has significantly increased our inventory for the same reason.

What OSDA is doing to protect our customers:

1. OSDA is bringing in inventory faster than our demand would require.

2. We have become much more aggressive with getting information sooner, so we can take appropriate action as soon as possible.

3. We are more proactive in making our customers aware of any effects of late deliveries.

4. We changed how we process purchase orders on the front end to eliminate any internal delays, which are under our control.

OSDA is pleased to announce it has completed its certification to the most current version of ISO 9001... the ISO 9001:2008. ISO is a worldwide standard for consistent quality. Companies certified with ISO are audited to ensure they are continuing to meet international ISO standards. Receiving the latest version of ISO supports OSDA’s commitment to stay current with industry standards.

Our Certificate Number is CERT-0044518. Contact us if you need a copy for your records.

We are currently in the process of applying for ISO-13485, which is the medical version of ISO.

In OSDA's quest to assure it keeps up on industry standards, requirements and general training, we are happy to report that:

Tom Wendland has recently completed his certification course to be a J standard soldering trainer.  Tom will be responsible for assuring all employees doing soldering will be instructed to meet this industry standard.

Bill DeProfio has completed the requirements to receive a certification as a IPC 610 trainer.  This will insure all OSDA employees are aware of industry standards for the production of printed circuit board assemblies.

At OSDA, we have weathered the storm by staying focused on our core competencies of highly automated assembly and lean manufacturing and by maintaining a diverse customer base. As a result we've never been forced to reduce our work week, ship late, take advantage of our suppliers or take any other radical measure to stay solvent. In fact, we are currently expanding our capabilities to deliver even higher levels of efficiency and quality. We've hired a new materials manager, reorganized our manufacturing process, added automatic masking to our lines and, based on your suggestions, completed a plan for automated testing, which will be operational by year end.

If your contract manufacturing relationship has been strained by the economic crisis in any way and you need a financially strong partner to help you deliver quality products on time, please consider OSDA. Our D&B rating (18-599-1288) as well as our customer references validate the performance and sustainability of our business. We are prepared to deliver the highest quality assemblies, on-time, regardless of the turbulence around us.

Sincerely,

Dave Ingraham

OSDA had a circuitous route to its involvement with the Large Hadron Collider located near Geneva, Switzerland and supported by a scientific consortium around the world. The origin of our work began when Brookhaven Laboratories needed help to build a series of Printed Circuit Board Assemblies that would be used to "straighten" atoms.  The problem was that the atoms, after being released from the accelerator, were not colliding head-on.  This meant they could not simulate the moment of the Big Bang.  Brookhaven designed boards that when placed around the accelerator, would continually correct their alignment.  They looked to OSDA to supply the experience and knowledge in building some of the most complex printed circuit board assemblies in the world.

This became the launch pad for OSDA's work with Yale, Columbia and Berkley Universities to provide manufacturing assistance to CERN, and the global consortium building the largest Accelerator in the world.

If we can help some of the greatest physicists in the world, maybe we can help you too.

OSDA is planning a series of workshop offerings for current and prospective clients at our full-service electronics assembly facility in Milford, Connecticut.

Please let us know which of the following opportunities you would be most interested in, so we can plan:

1. "Designing for Manufacturability"
2. "RoHS Compliance": Converting from manufacturing with leaded to lead-free parts to meet the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances standard
3. Facility Tour & Open House: Meet OSDA staff and see multiple projects in various stages of actual production, from single-board runs to complex prototype development
4. Suggest Your Own Topic of Interest: We want to hear from you.

Complete the survey >>

To meet growing client demand for testing, OSDA is expanding our current test offerings to include Automatic Test Equipment (ATE). We expect to have the equipment in place before the end of the year.  OSDA already provides clients with three levels of testing. We also provide "design for manufacturing review" before going to production to suggest options for making a board design better and easier to produce. Adding ATE to provide automated in-circuit testing will round out our offering.

OSDA closely aligns our testing capabilities with the business needs of a project. We currently offer: cost-saving option of "no testing" on simpler assemblies where no testing is recommended, flying probe testing for lower-volume products and functional testing to assure the customer can ship to stock. ATE testing will add a computerized in-circuit, high volume testing option for OSDA's clients.

In keeping with its philosophy of automating, to insure lowest cost while at the same time assuring the most consistent controllable quality; OSDA has recently added a PVA – 350 masking machine to its list of equipment.

This addition will allow the automation of applying mask to boards that will be waved soldered. This will allow a more consistent quality and broaden the range of assemblies that can be wave soldered, rather than hand soldered.

The more consistent application also insures that the proper quantities of mask are being used, allowing for less expense of the mask itself.

OSDA has recently made changes to its organization, in order to improve internal efficiencies and offer greater support for its clients.

Effective immediately

George Grom will become the VP of Technology and Engineering. In this new position, George will use over 20 years of experience to assist customers in optimizing product design for manufacturability. Customers, new and established, will have the benefit of working directly with George in the early stages of design to assure prototypes will run smoothly and their products will have a quick and seamless entry into production. George will continue to be instrumental in overseeing engineering to assure OSDA remains the technology leader in the EMS industry.

Bill DeProfio will move into the Manager of Process Engineering position. In this position Bill will give added support to OSDA's continuous improvement program, lean manufacturing operation and move us forward with the implementation of new equipment and process’ to maintain our leadership position.